The present invention relates to an automatic teller machine, and in particular to a bill conveyance controlling method and apparatus for controlling stacking of bills into a plurality of bill storage boxes which store bills of the same denomination, and separating bills from these bill storage boxes.
In conventional automatic teller machines, denominations of bills stored in a plurality of bill storage boxes can be arbitrarily set by using preset switches as described in JP-A-62-184591. As a result, a plurality of bill storage boxes storing bills of the same denomination can be installed.
In the conventional technique, stacking bills into a plurality of bill storage boxes set for the same denomination or separation of bills from these bill storage boxes is performed as hereafter described.
In stacking bills into bill storage boxes, a bill storage box wherein bills should be first stored is predetermined and bills are first stored into this bill storage box. When this bill storage box becomes full, switching to another bill storage box is performed and bills are stored into this other bill storage box.
In separating bills from bill storage boxes, a bill storage box wherefrom bills should be first separated is predetermined and bills are first separated from this bill storage box. When this bill storage box becomes empty, switching to another bill storage box is performed and bills are separated from this other bill storage box. In case a plurality of bill storage boxes are specified for the same denomination, bills are not stacked in other bill storage boxes until one bill storage box becomes full. As for separation of bills, bills are not separated from other bill storage boxes until one bill storage box becomes empty. Therefore, the prior art has a problem that the frequency of use of bill storage boxes set for the same denomination is not uniform.